About Me

I am a doctoral student and research associate at the Department of Sociology and Social Psychology (DSS) at the University of Cologne. My research interests include juvenile delinquency, policing, public perceptions of the police, and related topics. I approach these questions with quantitative and computational methods, with a particular focus on spatial data analysis, longitudinal designs, and causal inference. I also work with natural language processing and web scraping to build and enrich my own data.

In my dissertation project, I explore the relationship between exposure to policing activities, perceptions of police legitimacy, and juvenile delinquency. I am currently employed on the DFG-funded project “Friendship and Violence in Adolescence” (fugj-studie.de). Over the past years, I have also taught undergraduate seminars in spatial crime analysis.

Outside of research, I enjoy a range of sports, particularly running and cycling, and I volunteer with the fire brigade in Cologne.

Please feel free to contact me at: Pickartz [at] wiso.uni-koeln.de or follow me on Bluesky at @maxpi.bsky.social